Frank Lampard told to spend £300m for Coventry City or face relegation | OneFootball

Chris Waddle has told Coventry City what they must do to survive in the Premier League

Coventry City will be looking to emulate Sunderland and Leeds United by securing their survival in the Premier League next season.

Frank Lampard’s side clinched the Championship title to end a 25-year wait to return to the top flight.

The Sky Blues haven’t competed at the highest level of English football since 2001, narrowly missing out on promotion in two of the previous three campaigns.

Leeds and Sunderland have both survived their return to the division this season with multiple games to spare, but Burnley have gone straight back down under Scott Parker.

It is set to be a busy summer ahead at the CBS Arena, as owner Doug King will need to invest in the first team squad in order to aid their survival bid.

The transfer market could be key to ensuring Lampard’s side can compete in the Premier League in the short and long-term.

Chris Waddle urges Coventry to invest this summer

Chris Waddle has claimed that Coventry will need to invest up to £300 million over the summer transfer window in order to have any chance of repeating Sunderland’s survival success.

He believes that the Sky Blues have to be willing to splash the cash to stay up this year, otherwise their best bet for long-term stability in the top flight is to risk going back down and fighting for promotion again with the help of parachute payments.

“I think Frank Lampard’s done a great job,” said Waddle, via the Coventry Observer.

“Of course he can help his players and talk to them about what it takes to make it in the Premier League but unfortunately he can’t kick the ball for them.

“Sunderland have done well because they’ve spent £300 million.

“If Coventry have dreams of staying up then they can survive but if they can’t spend £300 million themselves they are probably going to get relegated.

“But you can take the money and run, go back down, take your parachute payments, and go back up stronger.”

Waddle has suggested seven or eight players are needed for Coventry to have a chance at staying up right now instead of risking becoming a yo-yo club.

“Many teams have done that all these years, and that’s buying the right players to do it right, by the way,” he continued.

“Lampard’s got a nice football team at Coventry but the Premier League is different and Frank will know that.

“Unless he’s allowed to spend and bring in seven or eight players then I think he’d be doing a great job to take the money and go back down to come back up again.”

Coventry finished top of the Championship table, comfortably leading second place Ipswich Town by 11 points to seal the title with multiple games to spare.

Lampard’s side reached the play-offs 12 months ago after coming fifth in the standings, but lost to the Black Cats in the semi-finals.

The Sky Blues will now be aiming to replicate the success of Régis Le Bris’ side next season, with the Wearside outfit safe from relegation and still in the mix for European qualification going into the final weekend of the season.

Meanwhile, Ipswich will be joining Coventry in the top flight, and they have already taken the path of becoming a parachute payment club after going up to the top flight in 2024 before suffering relegation in 2025.

Kieran McKenna’s side have earned their place back in the division at the first attempt, showing to King the alternative route to tackling the Premier League.

Coventry City are unlikely to invest at the same level as Sunderland

Sunderland spent quite heavily in the summer, but that was aided by the fact they sold Jobe Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund for a reported £40 million.

Coventry are unlikely to have that kind of sale this summer, which will put a cap on the level of investment we can expect from the club.

The sensible approach will be to conserve their spending and accept a likely relegation with the aim of going straight back up a year later, but that will be tough for supporters to go through as it will involve losing a lot of games.

It would be very risky to spend a lot in the upcoming market as it wouldn’t guarantee survival, and the cost of relegation could be far more severe, so a £300 million spend is extremely unlikely.